Time management is a recurring topic in our bookkeeping endeavours, and I'm sure it's a hot topic in similar accounting practices. While we all recognise the importance of effective time and resource management for the overall efficiency of our businesses, how often do we scrutinise how our team members are utilising their time?
Here are some high-level strategies that may resonate with you:
Clear Goal Setting:
Ensure that your staff has well-defined short-term and long-term goals aligned with your business strategy.
Regularly evaluate whether these goals are met and identify the underlying reasons for any shortfalls. Is additional training needed, or are there workflow issues to address?
Optimisng Software Usage:
Assess whether your accounting software is being fully utilised.
Look for any duplication of effort and explore functionalities that could enhance overall efficiency.
Effective Job Assignment:
Capitalise on your understanding of your team's strengths by assigning tasks accordingly.
Ensure that higher-paid staff members aren't handling tasks that could be efficiently managed by others.
Time Tracking:
Leverage historical time tracking data to identify areas of wasted time.
Assess whether each job is yielding a sufficient margin and whether some tasks could be delegated to optimise resources.
Beyond these strategies, let's delve into a more fundamental question: Are the tasks being performed commensurate with the time invested? Some of us may find ourselves providing bookkeeping services despite it being lower fee-earning work that takes away from higher fee-earning client activities. Have you ever contemplated outsourcing this aspect of your workload? The resulting time and cost savings could significantly elevate your business's revenue potential.
While bookkeeping is undeniably crucial, the question arises: Is it financially prudent to recruit and train someone within your business for these tasks? Outsourcing offers a flexible solution, streamlining year-end processes, freeing up time for more strategic services, and eliminating the need to train team members for bookkeeping duties.
